Facebook and other social networks could be used by British citizens to sign into public services online, The Register has learned.

A Cabinet Office spokeswoman confirmed to us this morning that the department was speaking to “a range of industry” about its ID assurance scheme, a prototype for which is expected in October this year.

Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said in the House of Commons last month that “people will be able to use the service of their choice to prove identity when accessing any public services [via the internet].”

The Cabinet Office has already launched a damage limitation exercise. According to Kelly Fiveash, wring in The Register, a government spokeswoman claims that “no data will be held by the government through the ID assurance scheme.” However. as Kelly Fiveash points out, this is because the ID authentication process will be farmed-out to private sector companies such as social networking sites and banks.

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